Transparent container for books, magazines and the like



. n. 31, 9 7 J. H. STEPHENSON 3,30 ,6 1

TRANSPARENT CONTAINER FOR BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 14, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR James h. 528/9/78l7-50/7 Tran/v55 Jan. 31, 1967 J STEPHENSON 3,301,621

TRANSPARENT CONTAINER FOR BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND THE LIKE Filed on. 14, 1965 O 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO'R Jams h. .Szephenson ATTDRNEYS United States Patent F 3,301,621 TRANSPARENT CONTAINER FOR BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND THE LIKE James H. Stephenson, 66 E. 83rd St., New York, N.Y. 10038 Filed Oct. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 496,019 1 Claim. (Cl. 312-234) This invention concerns a transparent container for books, magazines, and groups of sheets in bound or unbound volumes.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a transparent container in which books can be preserved and protected from dust and air, the transparent walls of the container enabling the contents of the container to be identified, without requiring additional labels on the container.

A further object is to provide a container as described, wherein a book can be attached to a closure plate of the container to serve as a binding member of the book, the attachment being effected in any one of a number of ways.

Another object is to provide a transparent container for a book, with an end closure plate which snaps into place on the container.

A further object is to provide a transparent container for a book having an end closure plate which is arranged to tilt the book out of the container when the plate is lifted.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a container embodying the invention, with a book shown therein.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective rear view of an end closure plate for the container of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the container with closure plate removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another container according to a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 77 of FIG. 6, showing the closure plate in tilted position in dot-dash lines.

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 88 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of parts of the container of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

Referring first to FIGS. 1-5, there is shown a con tainer 10 which includes a rectangular box 12 made of transparent plastic material such as an acrylic or the like. The box has opposing rectangular side walls 14, 15, an integral vertical back end wall 16, and smaller horizontal top and bottom walls 18, 20. The box has an open front end. Around the rim of the open end is formed a groove 22. The rectangular cover or closure plate 25 of the container has a channel shaped flange 26 extending all around the periphery of the rear side of the plate. This flange has an inwardly turned free edge 27 which snap fits into the groove 22 of the box 12 to effect a tight closure thereof.

The plate 25 may be formed with a group of fine holes 28 near top and bottom ends thereof. Certain ones of ice these holes may receive wires 30 which are used to bind the pages 32 of a book B together and to secure the book at its spine 33 to the plate 25. By this arrangement the title 35 printed on the spine 33 and the title 36 printed on the side of the cover 38 of the book can be read through the transparent plate 25 and transparent side wall 14 of the box.

Instead of employing binding wires 30, binding cord or string may be used. Alternatively, a suitable transparent adhesive may be used to attach the spine of the book to the plate 25. For such :an arrangement, the holes 28 may be omitted. If desired labels can be applied to the closure plate and/or sides of the box by use of pressure sensitive self adhering adhesive tape.

Of course it is not necessary to attach the book to the plate 30. It can be fitted into the box 12 which will be closed by plate 25 in the snap fit manner described for complete protection. The container will hold the pages together and help the book to stand upright. Its title can be seen through the transparent plate 25. A number of similar filled containers can be placed side by side on an open bookshelf to provide a neat, orderly array of books, with each book protected against dust, insects, etc. The titles will be visible through the transparent plates.

In FIGS. 6l0 is shown another transparent container 10a. This container has a box 12a provided with inte gral rectangular side walls 40, 41, narrow back end wall 42 and bottom wall 43. The top and front ends of the box are open. A U-shaped groove 44 is formed in walls 40, 41, and 43 near their front edges.

Closure plate of the container 10a is L-shaped with a vertical wall 52 and integrally formed horizontal top wall 53. Walls 52 and 53 respectively close the open front end and top of the box 12a. A channel shaped flange 55 extends in a U-shaped array around the rear side of wall 52 as clearly shown in FIG. 10. The free inturned lip or edge 56 of this flange snap fits into the U-shaped groove 44 of box 12a. The wall 53 at its rear end is provided with apertured parallel ears 58. These ears abut similar apertured ears 60 formed at the upper rear end corner of the box. A pin 62 extends through the aligned apertures of all the ears so that plate 50 is pivotally attached to the box 12a.

A depending tongue 64 is secured to plate 50. This tongue has a horizontal tab 65 which is embedded, cemented or secured by other suitable means to the underside of wall 53. The tongue is normally disposed in a vertical position close to the inner side of back wall 42 of the box. A book can be fitted into the container 10a without attachment to the plate 50 or to any of the walls of the container as shown in FIG. 7. Then when the closure plate 50 is pivoted upwardly in a clockwise direction as indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 7, the tongue 64 will turn forwardly and will push the book 70 forwardly out of the open front of the box where it can be grasped easily.

The closure plates 25 and 50 or the walls of the boxes 12 and 12a should be flexible to permit the flanges of the closure plates to snap into place in engagement with the grooves at the open ends of the boxes.

In both containers 10 and 10a the books are completely visible at all sides, ends, top and bottom of the container. This makes it possible to identify the contents readily without having to remove the book from the container. All kinds of books, magazines, notebooks, and volumes of bound or unbound pages can be stored easily, safely and neatly in the transparent containers. The containers can be made up in various sizes, widths, lengths and depths, to meet various requirements.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made Within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A closed container for a book or the like, comprising a rectangular box having integrally joined transparent Walls and an open front, transparent closure plate detachably engaged with said box at the open front thereof so that when a book is stored in the box it is visible through the plate and all of said Walls, said box having a groove around its open front, said plate having a channel-shaped flange with an inturned free edge engageable in said groove so that the closure plate engages the box with a snap fit, said closure plate having a pair of holes near the top and bottom thereof, tie fastener elements extending through the holes to secure a book to the closure plate with its spine in abutment with the closure plate, whereby said closure plate serves as a means for handling the book or the like.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 839,405 12/1906 Mortimer 12943 1,409,665 3/1922 Butler 20641.1 1,43 8,181 12/1922 Klop f 20645.14 1,925,454 9/1933 Meacham 220-6O 2,122,158 6/1938 Segal 20616 2,302,153 11/1942 Spinner 281-20 2,831,572 4/1958 Messin'a 20645.14 3,135,418 6/1964 Tracy 2206O CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner. 

